


Elements of Rebirth

by Hyrulehearts1123



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
Genre: Canon? What Canon?, Gen, Mentions of past abuse, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Please dont kill me, Shadow Link redemption, Vaati redemption, i wrote this when i was 11, the plot is still good though so i'm making it better
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-02
Updated: 2018-08-02
Packaged: 2019-06-20 12:05:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15533856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hyrulehearts1123/pseuds/Hyrulehearts1123
Summary: Long ago, a boy journeyed to save a princess from a demon, splitting himself into four pieces in the process. Though they were victorious, they knew that one day the demon would return, and swore to come when needed, and save the land once more.Now, the evil behind the actions of the demon is rising once more, and the heroes must rise once more to battle the darkness. But none expected the heroes to be mere children, desperately clinging to a fleeting hope of freedom. It will be up to the Demon and the Shadow to guide the heroes towards their fate, to defeat the darkness that has plagued the kingdom of Hyrule for thousands of years.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Am I taking on too many projects? Probably. Is this going to be left alone for months while I try to work on other things? Most likely. Is it going to be awesome to write though?
> 
> Absolutely.
> 
> So, this one has a bit of a convoluted history. I wrote the prologue in 2011, forgot about it, found it again in 2014, wrote the first chapter, and forgot it again. Now I've found it again, and here we are.
> 
> I know this is a bit confusing, but I promise I'll do my best to have things make sense through the story. I hope you enjoy the story, and I hope to have the next chapter up soon.

_ Long ago, there was a demon, a boy, and a princess. The demon broke free from an imprisonment from many years before, kidnapping the princess and forcing the boy to take up the Four Sword, a weapon imbued with potent magic that had the capability to split one's spirit in four. As one could expect, the boy was split into four, each part bearing their own color, and with their own personality. _

 

_ The first of the team was the courageous green one, who was most like the original. He was the leader of the group, making most of the decisions pertaining to the direction the group would go, but no decision was made without the consent of the rest of the team. _

 

_ The second of the team was the gentle red one, kind and gentle to all he met. His mannerisms gave rise to many questions as to whether the red one was male or female, but his companions treated him with respect no matter what. _

 

_ The third in the team was the aggressive blue one, strong and ready to defend any member of his team. Though he fought against being a part of a team in the beginning, he soon learned to love his companions like siblings. _

 

_ The fourth member of the team was the intelligent purple one, who preferred to be called Vio. He assisted the green hero in the planning of many of their missions, and was often the one who decided more of the minor things for the group. _

 

_ The four journeyed together, helping people and growing closer as they set about the task of freeing the princess from the demon's clutches. They defeated countless enemies, solved countless puzzles, and yet there was a trap that none of them had foreseen; an enemy hidden inside their shadow. _

 

_ The shadow separated them, forcing them to go through various trials on their own, surprised when they pulled through twice as strong as they were before. After suffering a defeat by the four, and a betrayal by his master, the shadow destroyed the Dark Mirror; the source of both his and the demon's lives. Before the shadow faded away however, the four accepted him as one of their own, making their number five for no more than a few moments. The demon was defeated, the shadow was accepted, and the princess was rescued. _

 

_ And so the four went back to the place they split, returning the Four Sword back to its resting place, and recombining into one once more. _

 

_ But there was made upon the last moments of being four, a promise between them. We shall awaken to protect our home once more, and shall never be torn apart again. Our destinies are now intertwined, never to be split apart. _

 

Translation of an ancient scroll found deep within the secret passageways of Hyrule Castle. It was translated through the efforts of thirty scholars, all of whom remain anonymous, along with the Princess Zelda the Tenth.


	2. Chapter 1

As twilight fell over the land of Hyrule, a shadow arose from the ruins of an ancient temple, just as it had done every night for nearly a thousand years. Each night was the same; awake to find the relic stored inside still intact, and leave to wonder the forest until dawn came.

The shadow could remain during the daytime if he wished, but doing so took far more concentration than returning to 'sleep' did, so he rarely stayed 'awake' for more than a few hours past dawn.

 

Leaping off the remains of a stone pillar that once reached over twenty feet tall, he began his night as he did every other. First, he wondered around the temple and it's borders, fingers running along the nearly decimated outer wall as he walked. Next, he walked around the pillars in the center of the temple, circling each several times in order to feel each individual crack in the ancient stone.

 

As he circled the last pillar however, a slight sense of dread began to fill the area around him. Frowning slightly, he stopped his circling, and finally noticed what pillar he had his hand upon.

Overwhelming longing and nostalgia flooded over him, causing him to lean his head against the pillar. How long had it been since he had last thought about those he had lost to the passing of the ages? How long since he had given up the search for a descendant?

 

Thoughts forced out of his mind, he used his magic to slip into the shadows cast over the forest, and began a forest wide search. His ability was being stretched to the limit, and he was jumping at every movement that an animal would make, but it seemed it payed off, as he found a girl perched in a tree, avoiding several people who seemed to be searching for her.

“Violet Maddison, come out from where you are right now!” One woman shouted, and the girl merely scoffed, adjusting her seat on the branch.

 

“I wouldn't go down there if my life depended on it.” She mumbled, leaning back against the tree. “Besides, that's not even my last name. Try again later.” The shadow smirked at the girl's attitude, deciding to watch her for a while, and see if his long wait had paid off. She moved closer to the base of the branch, pulling her scarf up to where it covered most of her face, and for good reason. It was starting to get cold, and she only had her long sleeved shirt, pants, and scarf to keep herself warm with.

 

From the glares she tossed at the people looking for her whenever they would get within forty feet of the tree she was in, it was fairly clear she had ran away, but her plans had likely been put into action far sooner than anticipated, as she was barefooted and had no bag for anything she may have wanted to take with her.

 

When someone walked right by the base of the tree the girl didn't move, as she was over thirty feet up, and it was well past midnight at this point. As the shadow realized how late it was, he finally noticed how violently the girl was shivering, and how her face was dusted with a soft pink from a decently high fever. A faint cough also confirmed his suspicion that the girl had gotten sick from the cold. The temperature outside was barely above freezing, and most started to get sick when the temperature was less than sixty degrees.

 

Seeing as the girl was only semi-conscious, the shadow quickly scanned the forest once more. The people who had been searching for her had left, and she wasn't too far from the ruins of the temple he had awoken in.

 

And so he began his task. Whispering gentle commands, he was able to get the girl onto solid ground again, and slowly began guiding her to the ruins, where he would be able to care for her. He knew that she likely didn't even realize that he was there, dismissing his voice as her thoughts, or a hallucination from the fever, but she still went where he told her to, and by doing so was allowing him to save her life.

 

The shadow was forced to expend his energy however, when the girl tripped over a stray root, pitching forward and not doing anything to catch herself. He managed to catch her, frowning deeply at the heat radiating off of her feverish body. It was obvious that her fever had worsened, and she was barely conscious, and was suffering from actual hallucinations now, as she kept mumbling in response to things that weren't there.

 

“Hold on kid, I'll get ya somewhere safe.” He murmured, holding the feverish girl close as he quickly made his way through the maze of trees that protected the temple from intruders. The girl quietly moaned in response, mostly limp in the shadow's arms. He gently shushed her, whispering soothing words to calm her, and lull her to sleep.

 

It worked, as the girl was deep in sleep within minutes. She would occasionally mumble something indiscernible, each sounding to be more distressed than the last. The shadow could do nothing to fend off her dreams though, so he merely picked up his pace. The sooner he got to the temple, the more energy he would have, and the more energy he had, the more effective his magic would be. But that in and of itself was the problem; he hadn't had to perform magic in such a long time, he wasn't sure how it would affect him, or if he was even capable of doing what he needed to anymore.

 

He didn't have much time to worry though, as he had crossed the boundary of the temple. There still seemed to be some leftover magic in the place, as the temperature gently warmed to a comfortable point, and a cot appeared next to a gentle fire.

 

He gently placed the girl upon the cot, smoothing blonde bangs off of her sweaty forehead in an attempt to comfort her. Her temperature had risen again, and was sitting around a hundred and four. “Damn kid, I can't treat something like this!” He gasped, gently biting his lower lip as he attempted to figure out what he needed to do. He couldn't help but smile softly though, when the girl leaned into his hand slightly as he continued to run his fingers through her soft hair. She subconsciously trusted him to protect her, even though she only knew him as a whisper giving her directions, and it felt good to be trusted.

 

“Perhaps I can assist you?”

  
  
  
  
  


Darkness. As far as the eye could see in any direction, there was nothing but darkness. The darkness wasn't oppressive though, in fact it was warm and comforting, not the cold and ruthless kind that everyone who had a near death experience spoke of.

 

'Is that what's happening? Am I dying?' The question echoed faintly through the darkness, but there was no reply. Only silence.

  
  
  
  


“ _ It doesn't matter how I'm here Shadow, but I'm here for the same reason you are. To find and protect the next heroes.” The mage snapped, cutting off any retort from the shadow by placing a hand on the child's forehead. “How long has she been unconscious?” _

 

_ The shadow closed his eyes for a moment, thinking for a moment before replying. “I found her near the border of the woods around eleven, and got her out of the tree she was in closer to one. I managed to get her most of the way here before she collapsed, so somewhere between an hour to an hour and a half.” _

 

_ The mage nodded, brushing a lock of lilac hair behind one of his ears. “That's somewhat good. How long after sunrise can you stay after what you did earlier?” _

 

“ _ No later than noon.” _

 

“ _ Alright. I'll work quickly then.” _

  
  
  
  


She had no comprehension of time as she drifted in the darkness, only that sometimes she felt more tired, and sometimes she felt less tired. She could barely tell the two different periods occurred though, content to just remain where she was; unaffected by anything that happened around her.

 

Besides, it took far too much energy to manage more than a simple thought.

  
  
  
  


“ _ Damn it! She's been unconscious for close to three days Vaati, when are you going to find out what's wrong already?!” _

 

“ _ Calm yourself Shadow. I managed to lower the fever, but there's something else entirely different keeping her asleep.” _

 

“ _ Well? What is it?” _

 

“ _ Patience my friend. You will find out as soon as I do. In the meantime, why don't you check on the other three? You know where they all are.” _

 

“ _ If it's time for them to begin training, they'll be able to find their way here. I'm pretty sure nothing's gonna kill them while we help this one.” _

 

“ _ And that's where you're wrong. You see, all four of them come from rough homes. This one had her adoptive family ignore her, the red one's aunt forces her into an image she cannot maintain, the blue one's father is highly abusive, and the green one merely wishes to escape the pressure placed upon him by a father who expects too much of him. They all need our help, and that's why we are here.” _

 

“ _ Fine. Where do I start?” _

 

“ _ Check up on the red one first. She's not as strong as the others, and the situation has been getting steadily worse.” _

 

“ _ I'll be back in a few hours. You'd better have made some progress by then.” _

 

“ _ Don't worry, I will. Now, let's try to find out what has you staying unconscious, shall we my dear?” _

  
  


 

 

She wasn't certain when it happened, but at some point, a soft glow began to surround her. It was warmer than the darkness, but at the same time it was just as gentle as the dark had been.

“Just rest little one. You have been dreadfully ill, and need to recover. The mage will assist in your recovery once he discovers what ails you, but for now you need to just rest.” The new voice echoed around her, soothing and gentle. The feeling of a hand brushing over her forehead helped to calm her restless mind, allowing her to relax once more.

 

“My dear Earth, my precious child, words cannot describe how loved you are, or how sorry I am for your fate. You will face much hardship in the coming years, but know that I would not place this burden upon you if I did not know for certain that you would be capable of handling it. You will have to become the leader of your team this time, as my Wind will be incapable of it until the end. You will have to be the protector, as my Water will not want to fight, as he has been surrounded by violence since the day he was born. You will need to be the healer at times, as my Fire will have no clue as to what she needs to do. But most importantly, you must not forget who you are.

 

“You are my dearest Earth, the calm within any storm. You watch all, and see things no others are willing to. When around others, you  are always silent, always knowing other’s motives and intentions far before anyone else. You keep the world at bay for your safety, like the earth to the sky. I do not condemn you for this, but I must beg of you, always be right about who you keep at bay, for if not, you risk losing all that you fight for, and becoming a traitor to those too blind to see why you do the things you do. Your choices will become all wrong in the eyes of all you trust in, and so I urge you to be careful, for the earth can shake, and its cries will destroy itself.”

 

The light slowly began to fade, the hand leaving her forehead. “And yet, you will be the only one to trust the Shadow. The rest of the elements will reject him, as they always have, and only in you will he find rest. And so I beg one last thing of you, dear child: Always give the Shadow someone to trust, and someone who shall trust him back. For he shall be the one that is to turn the tide of battle, as he always has.”

 

As the voice finished speaking, the last of the glow faded, and she drifted off into the darkness once more.

  
  
  
  
  


Vaati sighed in frustration, using his magic to set up a tent for the girl to sleep in. He couldn't believe the nerve of the shadow, bringing the red child to the temple before they even knew if the violet one would be alright, but the explanation had made sense.

 

The red child had lived with her aunt, who had been the type to force propriety upon anyone they could, and severely punish those who couldn't do what was expected of them. The child was young, and slightly clumsy, and therefore incapable of upholding the near perfection that her aunt had held her to, meaning she was often either locked in a room with no means of escape, or if she had messed up badly enough, she would have the 'skill' literally beaten into her.

 

It had seemed that the girl had messed up so badly that the monster – she didn't deserve to even be called human – had not only beaten her to the point that she was half dead, but then proceed to lock her in a room down in the basement, slamming the door to insure that the dust stirred, sending the defenseless seven year old into an asthma attack so violent that she still hadn't regained consciousness after three hours.

 

The girl coughed, a dreadful hacking noise that cut through any remaining silence in the temple. No, the mage reminded himself, before rushing to the shadow's side, checking that the girl's fragile airways indeed weren't trying to collapse on themselves once more. Not a temple, that implied that people worshiped there, and maintained its ancient structure.

 

A quick glance at the only relic that hadn't been plundered throughout the years also proved his point. In a way, the ruin was a memorial of a battle fought fiercely, and of a legacy that would carry throughout the ages.

 

But most importantly to the mage, was the fact that both the ruins and the relic would forever be a reminder. A reminder of what he had once been, and of the second chance he had been given.

 

With one last short burst of magic, he finished setting up the tent, and the shadow took the smaller girl into the fabric enclosure. Vaati did not miss the slight wheezing that accompanied the child's every breath, or the way that her chest rattled as it struggled to get fresh oxygen into her system. Summoning up his magic once more, he cast an air purifying spell over the tent. The girl's lungs were barely capable to handle the low pollen from the trees surrounding the ruins, so he set the tent up to where it would constantly be filled with pure oxygen, filtering out the pollen and carbon dioxide to help her recover.

 

Making a mental note to periodically check on the red child, Vaati moved back to the purple child. He almost didn't know why he even bothered checking, she had been unconscious for nearly seventy-eight hours, and other than the dangerously high fever slowly lowering, there had been absolutely no change in her condition. And yet he still continued to check, as if somehow the next time he would look, there would be some change. Hell, even her fever going back up would be fine, he just needed some sort of sigh that she hadn't gone comatose, that she was still at least somewhat aware of what was going on around her.

Nothing had changed.

 

The girl remained as still as she had been the last three days, only the steady rise and fall of her chest indicating she was still alive for the time being. Placing a hand on her forehead once more, the mage was slightly surprised to find that the child's fever had at last broken, and that the last of the tension had faded from the girl's face.

 

Seeing that she wasn't in life threatening danger anymore, the mage took a moment to take in the girl's appearance. She was slightly shorter than the average ten year old, and practically all skin and bones. She wore a well worn violet colored sweater that was nearly too large for her, the ends of the sleeves slightly torn and fraying from age. Baggy grey pants covered her legs, and her feet were bare as they had been when the shadow had first found her. Her light blonde hair was choppy, as if someone had carelessly taken a knife to it in sections, so as to make it as ugly as possible.

 

Her skin was pale, as if she wasn't often outside, but Vaati knew the truth. He knew how often she would lock herself away in her room, listening as her adoptive parents screamed at each other for reasons she couldn't understand. He knew how she would hide herself away from the rest of the house, afraid someone would finally notice her. He knew how late she would stay up just so that she could sneak downstairs to the kitchen to get diner without anyone trying to hurt her for one reason or another.

 

He had refrained from telling the shadow the truth of the purple child's home situation, as he knew just how close he had become to the purple hero of the last era, and if he were to know the truth, he would have blood on his hands once more.

 

Three nights ago when the shadow had found her had been the first time in months she had gone outside of her own accord, and it had ended with her near death from how ill she had gotten.

  
  


And suddenly, there was a shift.

  
  


It was faint, hardly anything noticeable when compared to the restless tossing and turning of the Red Child as she fought against the demons that haunted her in her sleep, but there was a change to the Purple Child, giving the mage a shred of hope for the coming days.

She had moved.


End file.
